All Wires-d up: Chargers guard makes key defensive play to preserve victory in hometown

Carl Sandburg College freshman guard Ralph Wires, a Quincy High School graduate, brings the ball up the floor during Wednesday night's game against John Wood Community College at the Student Activity Center. | Shane Hulsey photo

QUINCY — The experience was everything Ralph Wires could have hoped for. To him, though, winning was the best part. The Quincy High School graduate, now a freshman guard on the Carl Sandburg College men’s basketball team, helped the Chargers down John Wood Community College 73-67 on Wednesday in his first collegiate game in his…

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Steal and score by Sieger in closing seconds puts exclamation point on Hawks’ comeback

First-year Quincy University men's basketball coach Brad Hoyt saw his team erase a 10-point deficit Saturday night in a 71-68 victory over Missouri Southern at Pepsi Arena. | Matt Schuckman photo

QUINCY — El Sieger figured out Jaden Taylor’s modus operandi. So when the Missouri Southern basketball team’s leading scorer decided to attack off the dribble and headed toward the left elbow, Sieger knew where to be and how to react. “I just recognized he had finished over a couple of people before, so likely he…

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Hawks confident foundation for success is set, remain encouraged by progress being made

Quincy University sophomore guard Jake Hamilton, left, drives into the defense of teammate Ethyn Brown during a practice at QU's Pepsi Arena. | Matt Schuckman photo

QUINCY — Mason Wujek doesn’t consider himself a Jenga expert by any means. “I’m not very good at it,” he said. The good thing is he doesn’t have to play it alone. Now in his third season with the Quincy University men’s basketball program and experiencing his second rebuilding project in that time, the 6-foot-8…

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Schuckman: Hoyt, Hawks ready to meet challenges game day presents

Quincy University men's basketball coach Brad Hoyt will lead the Hawks into their first game under his command at 6 p.m. Friday when they face the University of Findlay in the GMAC/GLVC Regional Crossover in Findlay, Ohio. | Matt Schuckman photo

QUINCY — In the days leading up to their first road trip of the season, Quincy University men’s basketball coach Brad Hoyt asked each of his players to come by his office for a one-on-one chat. “It’s a good check-in,” Hoyt said. All with a purpose. Hoyt can gauge the pulse of his new team…

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Birthday celebration: Week before turning 28, Dahl lands opportunity to be JWCC hoops coach

Jonny Dahl speaks during Monday's press conference inside the John Wood Community College Student Activity Center where he was introduced as the new JWCC men's basketball coach. | Matt Schuckman photo

QUINCY — This wasn’t on Jonny Dahl’s birthday wish list, but it will go down as one of the most memorable gifts he’s ever received. “Unbelievable,” he called it. Nine days shy of his birthday — Dahl turns 28 years old on July 3 — he was officially introduced Monday as the new John Wood…

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‘He’s a blue-collar guy’: QU turns to JWCC’s Hoyt to guide men’s basketball program

New Quincy University men's basketball coach Brad Hoyt speaks at a press conference announcing his hire Tuesday morning in the Hall of Fame Room on the QU campus. | Matt Schuckman photo

QUINCY — Jake Hoyt owns the upper hand. As new Quincy University men’s basketball coach Brad Hoyt sees it, that won’t be the case for long. Last winter, during his freshman season at Illinois College, the coach’s son helped the Blueboys win an NCAA Division III national tournament game. His dad, who spent the past…

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‘It’s weird today’: Hoyt leaves JWCC after life-long association, school needs to fill three positions

Brad Hoyt spent 25 years at John Wood Community College as a student-athlete, basketball and administrator before leaving to become the head men's basketball coach at Quincy University. | Matt Schuckman photo

QUINCY — The navigation on Brad Hoyt’s car needs to be reprogrammed. Instead of the daily drive to the John Wood Community College campus, a route he’s taken for the past 13 years as men’s basketball coach and athletic director, Hoyt will be cruising across town to the Quincy University campus to begin his new…

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Schuckman: Rabe knows sweat-on-the-brow coaches fit what QU athletic department needs

New Quincy University men's basketball coach Brad Hoyt listens to the introduction from athletic director Josh Rabe during Tuesday's press conference in the Hall of Fame Room on the QU campus. | Matt Schuckman photo

QUINCY — Experience has provided Josh Rabe with perspective. During Rabe’s three years as the Quincy University athletic director, the head coach of three of the most high-profile programs on campus has resigned to pursue another coaching opportunity. None of those programs could be considered in the midst of thriving at the time. So it…

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Combination of woes lead to GLVC loss for QU men

ROLLA, Mo. — What do a season-high number of turnovers, more struggles shooting from the perimeter and a five-minute offensive drought add up to? Nothing good. The Quincy University men’s basketball team played toe-to-toe with Missouri S&T for the first 15 minutes of Thursday night’s Great Lakes Valley Conference opener at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.…

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Culver-Stockton men let 12-point lead in first half slip away in home setback, drop to 2-7 in Heart

Culver-Stockton's Cole Howard grabs a rebound in a crowd of players during Saturday's basketball game against MidAmerica Nazarene. Also going for the ball are C-SC's Adam Moore and MidAmerica Nazarene's Derek Langrehr, left, and Caleb Jones-McCrary. | Photo courtesy of Lisa Wigoda

CANTON, Mo. — The Culver-Stockton College men’s basketball team led by as many as 12 points in the first half, but the Wildcats scored just 23 points in the second half in a 64-60 loss to MidAmerica Nazarene 64-60 in a Heart of America Athletic Conference game Saturday afternoon at Charles Field House. The Wildcats…

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Photo gallery: Culver-Stockton College men vs. MidAmerica Nazarene

Culver-Stockton College's Jalen Blaize drives to the basket. | Photo courtesy of Lisa Wigoda

CANTON, Mo. — The Culver-Stockton College men’s basketball team lost a Heart of America Athletic Conference game 64-60 to MidAmerica Nazarene at Joe Charles Field House on Saturday afternoon. Correspondent Lisa Wigoda captured the action through her camera lens. Check out her photo gallery:

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Leathernecks open season with second-half rally, down-to-the-wire victory over Redbirds

Western Illinois University guard Trenton Massner, right, led the Leathernecks to a 71-68 victory over Illinois State University in Monday's season opener at Redbird Arena in Normal, Ill. | Photo courtesy WIU athletics

NORMAL, Ill. — Down, but never out. That’s a mantra that could carry the Western Illinois University men’s basketball team a long way. It lifted the Leathernecks to a season-opening victory Monday night. Trailing by as many as 13 points early in the second half, WIU went on a 16-2 run to get back in…

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Fans help generate atmosphere for Hawks as Hoopfest offers preseason glimpse

The opening tip of the Quincy University men's basketball team's scrimmage during Thursday night's Hawks Hoopfest signaled the return of fans to Pepsi Arena. Matt Schuckman photo

QUINCY — When you count the number of days since either the Quincy University men’s or women’s basketball team played in front of fans at Pepsi Arena, you realize how much a night to get reacclimated to the atmosphere was needed. And if the regular-season crowd mimics the energy felt in the venerable facility Thursday…

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